


In Eden

by dannihowell (iguessicantry)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Anal Sex, Colonialism, F/M, Jamaican Character, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Oral Sex, Patois, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 16:50:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6432526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iguessicantry/pseuds/dannihowell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Universe in which Dan is the son of a wealthy landowner in colonial Jamaica, where he holds a private paradise, his own Eden. Phil comes from England to marry Dan’s sister but Dan quickly changes his mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Eden

Dan’s never known anything else; the palm trees and fields of sugar cane mark his home. He’s English by blood but Jamaica has his heart. He’s the son of wealthy plantation owner, John Howell. His mother, Eva, came from England to marry his father and she’s been begging to leave ever since. That was 25 years ago. Dan spends his days avoiding his mother and his sisters, all five of them. They bore him he says. All they do is complain about the heat, the servants and the serious lack of proper parties for young ladies to attend.

At the moment, Dan’s found himself on the hammock on the back acre behind the mansion they all reside in.

“Massa Daniel! Yuh madda a look fi yuh!”  _ _[Your mother is looking for you!]__  Cassie calls from the terrace.

She’s his personal attendant and has been her entire life. She’s a pretty little thing, light brown skin and a lovely long braid which swings past her hips as she walks. With her straight Greek nose, high cheek bones and large almond eyes, she’s growing into a great beauty. Her heritage is a mixture of African, Asian and European. Her hair is long and black; her eyes described as dark hazel. Her father was an Indian man who had been indentured to the estate, now long gone. Her mother was a black slave sold away when the child was five as punishment for refusing her master’s advances, fighting and kicking to escape. The older people know the story but the children do not. The mistress of the plantation, Mrs Eva Howell, took pity on little girl and had her trained to be her young son’s servant. Her other children attended to by other nursemaids.

Cassie speaks with the broken English of the slaves. The dialect is a source of annoyance for his mother and father but is sweetly sung lullaby to Dan. He closes his eyes and lays absolutely still, hoping she cannot see him. He feels the hammock turn over and falls to the carpet-like grass beneath him.

“Yuh nuh hear mi?” [You didn’t hear me?] She asks disdainfully with her hand on her hip and the other stilling the rocking fabric tied between two cherry trees.

”Yes, I heard you. Ugh!” He groans and takes the hand she’s put out to help him up.

“Missy say yuh fi get ready. Dem a come tonight.” [Miss says you should get ready. He comes tonight.]

”I know.”

“Why yuh a hide?” [Why are you hiding?]

“Cassie...stop asking questions.”

Dan brushes himself clean, his white shirt now free of the small blades of grass that stick to him. The flora on the island grows almost wildly even with human intervention. Forests are thick and dense. They don’t call it the land of wood and water for nothing. Dan loves it. He loves that he can hide when he chooses. The land suits someone like him.

“It’s not your wedding,” she says softly, trying not to anger him as he’s clearly in a bad mood.

“I know, Cassie, but I’m next!”

“Oh… yuh nuh wan leave me?” [Oh, you don’t want to leave me?]

“Yes, exactly.” Dan chuckles and follows her back into the house.

He’s immediately overtaken by a hoard of girls running (though young ladies do not run, we walk swiftly) through the house and up the double staircase. Fabric flies and his mother’s voice carries above the din.

“Girls!” she says. “Calmly with poise”

“Mother, Anne took my yellow dress!”

“It looks better on me!” Anne says.

“It does not!” Jane rebukes with a pout.

“It’s Mary who took it and it can’t even fit you. “

“I never took that dress. Who took my new ribbons? Father brought them all the way from France and they’ve gone missing,” Mary adds.

“Madeleine took them!” Elizabeth says taking her mother’s hand.

“You’re nothing but a tattletale and—”

“That is enough!” Eva says firmly. She does not shout. She remains lady despite the “savage land” in which she finds herself. “Every dress and ribbon shall be returned to their rightful owner. Is that understood?”

“Yes, mother.”

Even Dan answers though he’s never been one to take his sisters’ dresses. Not even during that brief period of rebelliousness when he would tie their hair ribbons together in church so that when they stood up, they’d pull away just to clash. He continued his ill-treatment of his sisters until he was caught mid-sermon. His father gave him a swift beating and he’s been out of trouble since then. Dan’s no good boy, he’s simply more careful.

Dan is a liar. As much as he is kind to those he liked, he is manipulative to others. When he was a boy, he had taken a pen from his father’s desk. It was expensive and Italian, said to be the best. Of course, he had to have it. When it was discovered missing from its casing, Dan said the thief was a boy named Adam. The boy, whom he had never liked since he had taken to teasing Cassie persistently, was immediately punished; strung up to an almond tree and whipped until the breath left his body for the last time.

  


****__Thou shalt not kill._ _ ** **

****__Thou shalt not steal._ _ ** **

****__Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour._ _ ** **

  


The night it happened, an old Obeah woman named Ivy, the boy’s maternal grandmother, cursed him as he walked past her home with Cassie pulling him along.

In the Queen’s English, Ivy said, “You too shall lose the one you love the most. Once you have barred you weak soul, the truth will reveal itself. You, my young master, will bear witness and remember this day. Ten rules your precious God hath made, you will break. Your lineage will end. You will be punished.”

She began singing in a tongue foreign to all those present, scaring the children further. Cassie pushed Dan through the kitchen door and as she pulled the door to shut it, she heard, “A six gyal pickney dem have. No boi! Wutless!” [ _ _It’s six girls they have, no boys. He’s worthless.]__

Breath heavy and fear coursing through their bodies, the two children tried to calm themselves down. Cassie shook her head when Dan said, “It is all nonsense. She is not a witch.” He had believed that Obeah, similar to voodoo, was foolishness from Africa, where the woman was born almost a century earlier.

——————–

The girls return the pilfered items with not so believable apologies and he leaves them to get ready. His older sister, Madeleine, is meeting her husband to be. A young man named Philip Lester. He too is the son of a wealthy landowner. His home is Yorkshire however. Phil hasn’t any money to his name. With his older brother, Martin, the sole heir to their father’s land, he must seek his fortune elsewhere. He has two choices; find a bride with a handsome dowry or seek adventure. It seems that he’s bound to experience both. He is new to the West Indies and he comes tonight. Madeleine is ecstatic. She’s been bragging for the past few weeks, since her father announced the arrangement that she gets to return to England. She says she’s going home. Dan scoffs every time he hears it. She was born here. Madeleine has never left the island. The only thing British about her is her sir name. Her first name is French and her accent has a slight off rhythm to it. Her skin is tanned, much to her chagrin. The hot sun and sweet tropical breeze is a stark contrast from the rainy, dreary landscape that is Great Britain. But Dan too knows nothing about England; only what he reads and hears from his parents. He never wants to leave. This is home.

In his room, Cassie fills up his basin so he can wash his face and body. “Turn around,” he tells her with a sly smile. She returns it and gives in, turning herself away so he can undress.

“Mi know weh yuh a hide, Massa,” she giggles. [I know what you’re hiding from me]

“Oh really?” He asks.

“Yes really. A mi used to bathe yuh.” [I used to bath you.]

“Cassie, you are were just a baby when I was a born.”

“Mi did bright fi mi age.” [I was bright for my age.]

Dan chuckles at her insistence on proving her point. He changes his shirt and trousers quickly after washing his face and patting himself dry.

“Yuh look nice.”

“Thank you,” he says as she straightens his tie and collar.

“Maybe Massa Lester has a sister, hmm?”

“Do you want to get rid of me? Why are you trying to marry me off?”

“Yuh need a good wife. A nice English lady.”

“I’d rather marry you.” She blushed noticeably then pats his arm playfully because there is no way that can happen.

“Ready?” she asks softly, just barely audible above the shouts, screams and shrieks from the hallway.

“No.”

“Good.” She pushes him out of the room and into the lion’s den.

“Daniel? Behave!” his mother says as she makes her way down the stairs and to the sitting room. He’s already arrived so she greets him first then introduces the children. Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, and Anne curtsy with proficiency but Madeleine’s nowhere to be found.

“You’ll have to excuse my daughter. She’s still getting ready”

“That is fine.”

Dan stares as they talk. The young man, blue eyes obviously tired from the journey, reaches for Dan’s hand. “Philip,” the young man says in introduction.

“Dan— umm Daniel,” he stutters and shakes his hand.

“How was the journey, Mr Lester?” Eva asks gesturing to a seat in the room.

“Quite troublesome, Mrs Howell. I have seasickness apparently.”

“Well that must have been dreadful for you. I hope our accommodations will make up for it.”

“Surely,” he agrees. The small talk continues and Dan loosens his tie and wipes his brow. The man before him has cast some sort of spell on him. Never has he felt this way about anyone. Why did his presence overwhelm with such a feeling.

“Daniel, are you ill? You look peaked,” Eva says worriedly.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” John chimes in, walking into the sitting room and greeting the young man as he stands to shake his hand. “Welcome to our home, Mr Lester.”

“Thank you, Mr Howell.”

As the servants prepare the guest room, Dan has been nominated to show Mr Lester their home on a grand tour. He takes the job with a polite nod.

“So what do you do for fun here?”

“My sisters like to read and that sort of thing.”

“What do you do, Daniel?”

“Call me Dan. Just Dan. I find pleasure in many ways,” he says with a slight smirk.

“What exactly do you mean, Dan?” Phil asks pensively.

“You’ll see. How long is your stay?”

“One month. We’re set to be married by the end of next month. I have yet to meet my bride.”

Dan’s casual smile becomes strained.

  


****__Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife._ _ ** **

****__Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s goods._ _ ** **

  


He’s jealous and nervous and he hasn’t felt this way in years. He had known a boy named Francois, from the isle of Martinique who was visiting an old aunt one summer. They had been arguing– excuse me– discussing the art of kissing. Francois said the French were masters and the British could only dream of such passion. Dan took offense and called him a liar.

“I am no liar!” he exclaimed and kissed him. Francois went on to give Dan kissing lessons every day for two months. “You’re almost French,” he praised him in whisper as his nurse called for him so they could leave on time. He was returning to his own island. “I shall tell Fabien about you. Maybe the English can be taught,” he giggled.

“Fabien?”

“A friend at home, Dan. A very special friend.”

That was four years earlier, when Dan was fourteen and innocent in every sense of the word. But he had growth since then. If Dan knew then what he does now, he would have been less attached to Francois. He wouldn’t have sulked for month’s afterword. Cassie wouldn’t have had to soothe his aching heart without explanation, cheering him up with sweets and childhood songs that always made him laugh.

“Dan?” Phil says trying to get his attention because he’s stopped in front of the bay window that looks out onto that very same hammock where he’d daydream about Francois.

“Yes? Sorry.”

“That looks relaxing.”

“More than you know,” Dan says contentedly.

“I think it’s time I showed you to your room. It’s right next to mine. The girls, lucky for you, share a wing separate from ours.”

“Why is that so lucky?”

“Tomorrow morning, you’ll see- I should say– you’ll hear why,” he says with a shudder. Phil laughs at his overacting and Dan think he’s the loveliest young man he’s ever seen. With almost black hair and striking blue eyes, Philip Lester is the most gorgeous man on the island. Dan bites his lip to stop himself from awing over him and takes a long stride to show that he’s ready to move on because God help him if this man smiles one more time…

Dan finds a few servants stood in front of the guest room. As the two boys approach, they open the double doors without speech. Dan nods a simply thank you (a gesture that signifies respect despite their status. His mother would be in hysterics if she saw such behaviour). The guest bedroom was decorated richly, colonial style. It was kept cool by the sea breeze coming in from the large front windows that had been left open. White linen flowed all over, from the four poster bed with mosquito net artistically placed above to the thin sheer curtains moving with the wind. Phil made a noise of approval and Dan let out a little giggle.

“What is so amusing?” he asked plainly.

“Oh, nothing. Sorry.”

“You appear to be very guilty when you’ve done nothing to warrant it.”

“Pardon?”

“Stop apologizing,” he laughs.

Dan chuckled lightly; glad to know Phil had a sense of humour.

“Daniel, tell me. How do you handle the heat?” he asked wiping his brow and slipping of his jacket that seem highly inappropriate for the climate though all the white men wore them.

“I go swimming some days… when I manage to get away from mother and my attendant. Would you like me to take you to my little private beach? It not very far at all.” Dan shuffles across the room to the door leading in a large closet.

“Perhaps,” Phil answers wearily. “Where are you going?”

“To check the closet… for demons you see.”

“Demons?”

“Cassie, the girl who follows behind me constantly, likes to put lizards and bugs, what we call demons, in the closets to scare our guests away. She doesn’t like the extra work,” he says with a wink. “But I’m sure she’s much better now.” And with that Dan closes the closet door without looking inside and turns to leave. “Just call on me if you get frightened.”

Phil says, “I’m sure I will,” raising his brow at him. Dan nods and leaves, smirking to himself because he’s certain that this man is different from all the other suitors. He, Philip Lester, is not  _ _suitable__  at all.

———

“It’s lovely to meet you Miss Howell,” Phil says politely, bending to kiss the hand of Madeleine, who’s finally left her room to join the family for dinner.

“And I you, Mr Lester,” she says with a light giggle and small curtsy.

“Dinner is served,” the porter calls into the dining room and they all take their places.

John and Eva sit at the head of the table, the youngest girls, sit on the left side while Dan sits between Phil and Madeleine on the right. Still in their nicest summer dresses, the girls take their seats. Each Howell child has their gift. Elizabeth, the youngest at 8 years old, had a darling voice. Jane and Mary, who were 12 and 10 respectively, played violin with amazing proficiency for their age and training. Anne, 15, was extraordinarily bright. With a crown of blonde curls head and her nose in a book, she was easily spotted on the fields reading at any given point during the summer holiday. She wished to be a doctor, which was more than what Madeleine wished to be. Madeleine’s only dream was to be a lady, dressed in the finest clothes and attending functions all over Britain. Then there is Daniel. God, there is Daniel. The boy has an almost constant streak of mystery about him and coy smile ever present on his boyish face. His hair had grown far too long for his mother’s liking but he is never around long enough to get a proper trim. Dan has an air of adventure in him. He is sneaking and cunning. His good looks get him out of trouble almost three times weekly. Cassie often tells if he wasn’t so cute, he’d surely be dead. John Howell held no illusions about his darling boy, his only male heir, except one. He had been traveling back and forth between the Caribbean islands, finding him a wife, one who knew their way of life. The daughter of a fellow landowner would suit him just fine. He did not trust the boy to do it himself.

He knows his son is mischievous, some may even say wild. He thinks he needs guidance and steering. He’s made it clear that Dan will soon have to grow up. He’s made it quite clear.

****__I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me._ _ ** **

But while John discusses recent troubles in the British colonies with their guest, Dan watches intently, practically worshipping him. He sees the way the man next to him picks up his glass gently, carefully and how he smiles and laughs politely. Dan gets caught when the light from the candles on the table flickers in the reflection of the man’s blue eyes.

“Are you sure you are not ill?” Eva asks her son, who has been staring at Phil for the past few moments.

“No. May I be excused?”

“Yes, of course. Shall we send for the doctor?”

“No, thank you. I’ll just have Cassie look after me.” His father chuckles knowingly and takes a sip of wine.

“Mr Lester, feel free to ask our slaves for anything… Anything you desire.”

Dan shakes his head and gets up to leave as his mother shifts uncomfortably. The younger girls still have no knowledge of normalcy of what their father has just suggested. They do not even know such an act exists but Madeleine does and she bows her head in embarrassment. Phil takes a sip of his own drink coolly and smiles. Dan is suddenly not so sure of Phil’s suitability. He returns to his room shortly after and changes into his night clothes. Cassie knocks on his door and he tells her to come in. She closes the door behind her and frowns at his solemn expression.

“Ah wah do yuh?” [What’s wrong with you?]

“Nothing, Cass.”

“Nuh lie to mi,” she says. [Don’t lie to me.]

Dan turns towards her and sighs. She walks towards the bed and turns down the thin duvet, then does the same to the flat sheet. Dan thanks her quietly and climbs into bed but just when he thought she would leave, she stays standing by his bedside looking at him with an unmistakable expression. “Cassie?” Dan questions, his heart starting to beat a little faster now. “I want to make you feel better…” Her hands caress his face as he lays there speechless. Cassie blows out the lantern on the nightstand before undoing her braid, letting the waves of her black hair cascade over her shoulders and face, and undressing before him. Breasts perfectly shaped, hips wide and body slim, she is what many men desire: Young and ready and beautiful in every way. She thinks this much of Dan, her master and childhood friend. Cassie climbs on top of him and leans down to kiss Dan. He is still unmoving, unresponsive, lost for what to do or say. The kiss is one sided and she thinks he’s only shy so she tells him, “I will show you what to do.”

Taking his hands from his side and shifting down his body simultaneously, Cassie moves his right hand to her waist, right at the nape of her backside, and the other to her breast.

“Cassie, I do not—,” he starts and lets his hand fall from her chest to her waist.

“Hush, this will feel good. Promise.”

She kissed him again and grinds into his body. He starts kissing back, remembering the lessons from summers past, and he feels Cassie smile on his lips.

Cassie sits up on him properly, smiling down at him and starts to lift off his shirt. He sits up and she moves off him so he can do the job himself.

This is new. He never thought of Cassie this way before, no matter how much he teases her with his flirting. He’s never seen any woman or any girl this way. Just minutes earlier, Dan was caught lusting after Phil, who would be sleeping, probably nude because of the heat, in the next room over. That thought made him move faster to remove his clothes for some much need relief. Dan throws his cotton nightshirt across the room and lets his instincts take over, pushing the girl back onto her back and climbing between her legs, wondering all the while if Phil would do the same to him.

She opens up to him willingly and he pushes in. They both moan out, Dan in pleasure and Cassie in slight pain. She wriggles beneath him and winces so he pulls out, scared to continue. “Did I do something wrong?”

She shakes her head no and giggles at his innocence which was somehow still intact. “No, go on.”

He nods and kisses her again, lightly on the lips and then positions himself again. She grips his bottom and pulls him closer, wrapping her legs around his waist, pushing him deeper than before. Dan sees her close her eyes and smile, making squeaks and moans of pleasure. Could Phil make those same sinful noises? She’s tight and wet around him and starts to move her body with his. He thrusts faster and faster, his peak closing in on him, thoughts crowding his mind. “So good— so so good,” she praises him. Dan repositions himself and he hits something unbeknownst to either of them.

Cassie throws her head to the mattress, arches her back and moans loudly. Dan covers her mouth; not wanting attention brought to them and soon finds himself on the edge. Her sounds, her writhing and the fall into ultimate pleasure pushes him over. He releases inside her, chasing his orgasm as his continues thrusting. Once they’re done, Cassie sleepily begs him to let her stay. But he tells her they can’t be caught here in his room. She nods and he takes her face, kissing her slowly, lovingly, telling her good night. A few moments after she’s gone, Dan hears a knock on the door. He calls out a “Hello?” He hears a deep masculine voice. “Can you check the closet… for demons?”

Dan looks around confusedly then remembers what he told Phil earlier with a smile. “Scared?”

“I do not fare well with foreign beasts.”

“Then you and I cannot get along.” Phil raises his eyebrow, questioning the obvious flirtation.

“How did you know?”

“Know what, Philip?” Phil pushes the door open and finds the boy without clothing, not even scrambling to find cloth to save himself any embarrassment.

“God…”

“How did  _ _you__  know, Philip?” Dan says yawning, pretending that this situation was normal.

“Each time I tried to sneak a glance at you, you were already looking right at me.”

“I am not very subtle, am I?”

“No… so you are a beast?” Dan closes his door before he answers.

“I am practically French.”

“You are gorgeous.”

“Oui.”

Phil chuckles softly. Placing his hand on Dan’s back and pulling him closer, Phil closes the gap to kiss him. Mumbling on his lips, “Can I stay?” Dan nods and kisses him, wrapping his arms around Phil’s body and walking back to the bed. With Phil undressing in front of him, Dan’s already forgotten the rendezvous with Cassie. He remembers when he sees the blood on the sheets, the mark of her virginity, now forever gone.

“You cannot stay tonight. My attendant comes to wake me every morning. She cannot find you here. Never let them see you doing anything you would not want published. The slaves know everything; from one end of the island to the next.”

“I will be sure to leave before then.”

“We cannot take the risk. Sorry…”

“It is alright, Dan. We have quite a while to be with each other, get acquainted…”

“Yes, we do,” he says.

“You are beautiful.”

Phil answers with a naughty, “Oui.”

The next morning, Cassie sneaks into Dan’s room and closes the door softly behind her. She tiptoes over to him and gets a little disappointed because he’s wearing clothes as opposed to naked state she had left him in the night before. Climbing into his bed, she sings sweetly, “Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? My Daniel? Sweet Daniel? Morning bells are ringing—”

“Cassie, let me be.” He had a late night so of course he wants to sleep.

“Come now,” she whines as he turns over to sleep under the sheet.

“Mi nuh want yuh fadda fi beat yuh.” [I don’t want your father to beat you.]

“Then you should tell my dear father why I am so tired you naughty girl.” She giggles and straddles his body then kisses him on the lips.

“Mi nah tell him nuttin. Him a go tek yuh from mi. Get yuh a wife and send yuh to England.”  _ _[I won’t tell him. He’ll take you away from me. He’ll give you a wife and send you back to England.]__

“Alright. Let me get up so I am not banished forever.”

At the breakfast table, Phil is sat between Madeleine, who is dressed in a beautiful lilac and white dress and Dan. A bit much for breakfast but she had to look her best. Dan wonders how she will manage with over a month left until the wedding and his hand moving over Phil’s thigh as he sips on the guava juice. “How did you sleep, Philip?” Eva asks, sipping on her tea.

“Just fine, Mrs Howell.”

“Oh, you can call me Eva or even mother,” she laughs. “I hope to be a grandmother within the year.” Phil blushes bright red, the youngest girls giggle and Madeleine gasps, “Mother! Really?”

John joins in the laughter while Dan squeezes Phil’s thigh, a silent reminder that he exists. Cassie watches Dan from the wall, where she’s stationed until called for more instructions. Dan never looks up from his plate and she recognizes his behaviour. He is clearly jealous. He is not laughing or even smiling at their guest’s strange reaction. She figures it is because of what they did the night before. She decides to move from her place to fill up his half-filled glass and whispers “Are you alright?” He looks at her bewildered by her behaviour and nods his head slowly.

“Daniel, we need to speak after breakfast, in my office.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Girl, return to your place!” John barks at her. Cassie jumps at his loud command spills the pitcher of fruit juice all over Dan and splashing Phil. John gets up and shouts, “You stupid girl!” then grabs her arm pulling her out of the sun room where they were eating.

Dan, still dripping, follows him, shouting, “It was an accident! Don’t whip her!”

“Samuels!” His father calls out into the front of the house. Samuels is the overseer. John never deals with these matters personally. He doesn’t have the time to tend to animals he says. “20 lashes!”

“No!” He pleads while Cassie remains silent, terrified to speak. She doesn’t want to be sold like her mother. Her home is with the Howells, particularly Dan. In the dining room, Eva quickly apologizes for Cassie’s behaviour and Phil dismisses it, saying, “She was frightened. I’m certain it was not malicious.”

“These people are not to be trusted in the least.” She drops her voice to a whisper, “There’s talk of emancipation. The runaways are fighting the British army. Jamaica will never be the same. Maybe we can finally leave this horrid place.”

“What will happen if emancipation comes?”

“That is left to be seen.”

Outside, a crowd gathers as Cassie is tied up to a tree.

“Samuels, I beg you. Do not to touch her. It was my father’s fault, not hers.”

“I have to follow orders.”

“I’ll do anything!”

“Why are you behaving this way, boy? She special to you?” He chuckled darkly.

The whip snaps and a scream goes out. Dan runs back into the house, hearing her shrieks of pain. He goes right into the den, where he knows his father has his rifle. He grabs it, without taking ammunition and without any real knowledge of how to use the thing. With the barrel pressed to the temple of the overseer’s head, Dan says, “Let her down.” Samuels drops the whip and raises his hands above his head. Dan nudges him with the gun and stumbles forward and starts picking at the ropes. A soft murmur goes through the crowd, a low hum of their questions and already made conclusions.

She falls to the ground, to her knees because she can’t stand. The slash of the whip hit her feet and ankles. As Dan puts the rifle down and moves to go to her side, he feels a heavy hand on his shoulder. It’s John. “Inside! Now, before you are next.”

———

“Father, she did nothing wrong!”

“Quiet!” Dan struggles in his grip then found himself thrown into the armchair in the study. “Now listen here. You will not go against my orders. This is still my house, these are my slaves and this is my land. What I say is law!”

“Your law is unjust!”

“Then so be it! You are smitten with the filthy thing, aren’t you?”

“No!” he refutes. It’s a half-truth really. He does love Cassie. Really, he does but not that way. “Nothing justifies what you’ve done!”

John’s face softens a bit and he sits down on the edge of oaken desk. “Son, you can have her. Have her as much as you like but know that you will be taking a wife in coming years. Do not flaunt this romance, if that is what this is. No woman wants to know her husband is in love with another woman… especially one of them.”

“Fine!” he shouts back. “But if anyone lays a hand on her, I  _ _will__  kill them.”

“Fair enough. Men will be men; boys will be boys. It seems that I have several boys.”

“What?”

“You are not my only son; your sisters are not my only daughters. I thought I should let you know so that you can avoid family members, if you get my meaning. The two little ones with the high yellow colour, David and Mark. And one about your age named Toby.” Dan glares intensely at his father who goes on to list his accomplishments: five sons and three daughters born to the plantation. “It’s by pure luck that Cassie—”

“She isn’t? Right? Father—”

“No… Her mother was quite belligerent, feisty.” John chuckles and takes a bottle of bourbon and starts pouring. He hands the glass to Dan who swallows in one go before slamming it down and getting up to leave.

****__Honour thy Father and thy Mother._ _ ** **

  
As soon as he’s outside the office, he sees one of his half-sisters, a little girl of about six named Angel, dusting a small table is the passage. He makes a note to have the cook give her a biscuit or a sweet. The child, hair braided in two and an obvious dimple on her left cheek, jumps when Dan steps farther down the hall. Dan understands her fear of him. He smiles sweetly, receiving a wide grin of appreciation.

“Is she okay?” Phil asks him in passage.

“Yes, he only got 6 strikes in. She’ll be okay. Many have survived worse.”

“Can we talk privately?”

“Yes, of course.” Dan takes him into the drawing room and closes the white French doors behind them.

“I’m confused, Dan.”

“Why?”

“Correct me if I am jumping to conclusions here.”

“Yes?”

“Do you and that girl, your attendant, have something? Are you in—?”

“No, not exactly. We… She…”

“A friend is she?”

“Yes. The best friend I’ve ever had… but I do not love her that way as much as I wish I did. Even loving her would be easier.”

“Easier?”

“Than loving you or any other man.”

“Oh.”

“Is it safe in here?”

“No. Walls have ears and eyes and some would like to see me hanged.”

“What did you do?”

“Told a white lie and my father had a boy killed because of it.

“Killed?”

“They still remember it. They all do.”

“Where can we be alone?”

“Come to my room tonight once you hear four knocks. That will be me.”

“Until tonight then.”

“Oui.”

“Cute.”

——

That night, Dan tells Cassie he’s not feeling well. Bad choice on his part as now she certainly will not leave him now. Tending to him when he’s ill is actually what she’s meant to do. The kisses she presses to his forehead by way of medication is all extra. “Cassie please, I only need rest.”

“Mi caan leave yuh.” [I can’t leave you.]

“I cannot have you here. You should be resting. Your feet…”

“Kelly did wrap dem fi mi. Mi alright.” [Kelly wrapped them for me. I’m fine.]

“No. Please go back to your house. For me?” he asks with pouty lips. She kisses them and leaves the room reluctantly. Dan gets out of bed and just as he’s about to knock on the wall, he stops. He opens his door and looks around the corner. “Cassie!” he whispers harshly.

“Alright. Mi a go.” Dan knows her too well. He returns to his room, knocks four times and waits. Phil doesn’t come even after he tries three more times. Dan gets frustrated and goes to fetch Phil himself. When he opens the door he’s met with a tall buxom brunette with light blue eyes and hers arms wrapped around Phil. “Madeleine?”

“Daniel!” She pushes her body away from Phil who clearly embarrassed or frightened. “Why are you here?” she asks.

“Umm… uh. I kept hearing a knocking sound. Did you hear it?”

“I didn’t,” she answers, pulling up her sleeves and straightening her dress.

“I  _ _did__  hear something,” Phil sneaks in.

“Oh Dan, please don’t tell. We—we just wanted to get closer before the wedding.”

“I’m sure. You know, Maddie, it’s time you went back to your side of the house. Mother still likes to check on you girls at night. She worries.”

“You’re right! I better go,” she says biting her lips in frustration. “I’ll see you in the morning, my dear.”

“Yes, good night.” She pecks Phil on the cheek before kissing Dan goodnight as well, begging him to keep her secret. As the door closes, Dan raises his eyebrows. “ _ _You__  are the foreign beast it seems.”

“This is all a misunderstanding! She came here. I tried to tell her to leave but she just—”

“That’s Maddie. She gets what she wants. Well… most of the time.” Dan strides over to him and pulls him closer by his suspenders. Phil smirks and instantly melts in Dan’s arms. Lips meet; heads tilt and fingers slip under fabric. This attraction feels unreal, magical, fantastical, and practically biblical, the stuff of myth and legend. Phil breaks the kiss, making Dan pout, then tells him to “hush.” He undresses and Dan begins too but he gets stuck at his under shorts, gaze caught on Phil’s milky white skin, glistening with sweat and causing his hair to stick to forehead. Phil blushes when he sees Dan stare, strips down to nothing, then helps Dan along. Dan gives him embarrassed but grateful smile. “Have you done this before?” Phil asks him.

“Not with another…”

“But you have done this?”

“Yes. Have you?”

“Yes, when I went away to London for school, I had met someone but that was three years ago. He and I don’t speak any longer… easier that way.”

“Will you do the same to me?”

“I can’t promise anything. We are to be brother-in-laws. It would look bad if we were not on good terms, hmm?”

“Yes,” he smiles. “It would. I, personally, want to make sure we are the best of companions.”

“I agree, my beautiful boy.” Phil’s voice is low and the vibration reverberates through Dan’s entire body, making him close his eyes to relish in the sensation. It’s close to growl, tempting but dangerous.

“Ready?” Phil asks, caressing Dan’s back and bottom, squeezing him for good measure.

“God…” he breathes.

****__Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain._ _ ** **

“We’ll take it slow, alright?” Dan nods in response, secretly thankful because to be perfectly honest, he hasn’t any idea what this may entail.

“Lay down for me.” Phil places a pillow under Dan’s head and lays down next to him, turning on his side a bit. Stroking Dan’s cheek, he coaxes him into a passionate kiss while at the same time that same hand moves down his new lover’s body. He feels around the front of his body, grasping Dan’s member and stroking it slowly, almost teasingly.

“You do everything I do, okay?” Answering with a diffident nod and moving his own hand over Phil’s own length, Dan tells him he is ready. He wants this. Phil’s breathe catches when Dan grips him, warm soft skin meeting highly sensitized and throbbing hardness.

“Move your hand like this,” he whispers though his voice is so deep it’s loud in Dan’s ears anyway. Phil forms a perfect O in his fist and strokes upwards then back down.

It feels so good that Dan forgets Phil’s instructions and goes into a state. “Make me feel good too, Dan,” he pleads with him, moving his hand to guide Dan’s fist up and down. Dan whimpers in the loss of the sensation but stops when Phil lets out a groan and kisses him in the moment. Dan breaks the kiss and wets his hand with his tongue, something he’s used to doing when alone. Taking Phil’s hot, heavy cock into the crook of his palm, he starts to stroke him. Dan begins slowly and bites his bottom lip as Phil stares at him from his side of the bed. Phil follows his actions, wets his hand and takes Dan again, criss-crossing their arms. He lays down flat on his back and tries to soak himself, drown himself in the shock shooting through his body. Phil has a few tricks up his sleeve and has the peace of mind to use them. Planning his movements carefully with excellent timing, he strokes up, runs his thumb through Dan’s slit causing Dan to let out a “ _ _Phil__!” straining the vowel far too long and far too loud. He arches his back into the feeling and squeaks out, “I’m so— close!”

“No, you aren’t.” Phil lets go of him and Dan gets so upset that he straddles him.

“Finish!” Dan commands.

“No.”

“Fine!” Dan growls in his face. He grinds down his body, moving his hips hard and slow, pushing his length right against Phil’s back and forth, making them both moan. Dan wets his hand again and reaches between their bodies for both of their members, now red, swollen and angry.

“You’re an animal,” Phil says.

Dan growls lowly right into Phil’s ear then bites down on the lobe. “I have you wrapped around my little finger.”

“It seems you have your little fingers wrapped around me— oh!” Dan swipes his thumb across them both and he can feel Phil tremble beneath him. He lifts his head to look straight into Phil eyes, only visible by the adjustment to the dark and the moonlight peering in through the curtain. Dan speeds up his thumb with the aid of the precum leaking from them both. It’s so hot in the room, in the bed and sweat droplets form on their temples and run down to the fabric below. Phil’s gone silent; his eyes roll to the back of his head and his bucks up aimlessly into Dan’s hot body.

They’re coming together, orgasm bursting through, and bodies in desperate need of the release. Stripes of white cover both their tummies and Phil tries to move Dan’s hand away since he’s still going. “God!” he screams, reaching for Dan’s hand and pulling his body away. He watches the boy above him finish up, climaxing for what seems like a few minutes though only seconds. Phil’s nearly breathless watching him, the way he contorts his face and whispers, “ _ _Phil, Phil, Phil__.”

—

“It is  _ _too__  bloody hot.”

Dan pushes himself up from Phil’s body and agrees, “It is.”

“Fix it for me please. I feel practically faint.”

“How dainty of you, Phil.”

“It’s Philip,” he insists jokingly.

“ _ _Phil__ , my fair lady, I’ll cool you down.”

“Oh, I do not think that is possible. You’re simply too much,” Phil whines playfully.

“Hush, I know love. I know,” he giggles.

“We will go out into the country tomorrow, out to the beach… without anyone to see anything we do.”

“Promise? Because there is so much more we can do.”

“There is?”

“So much more. Do you ever touch yourself… here?” Phil asks, stroking the skin on Dan’s bum. Dan shakes his head then lays it on the pillow beside Phil. He’s a little shy about the subject. Phil knows so much more and Dan is accustomed to being in control. Even with Cassie, he took over half way through. “That’s just fine, love. Tomorrow, hmm? Let’s rest.”

Dan closes his eyes, falling asleep gently, rocked by the rising and falling of Phil’s chest. The fact that his heart lies right beneath his ears only pulls him down farther. He’s fallen from grace and he simply does not care.

\--

“Is that a little cottage? Here, in the middle of nowhere?”

“Yes, Cassie and I discovered it when we were children,” Dan informs him, opening the wrought iron gate into the small compound. “We call it Eden. No one lives here but I kept bringing things to make it nicer.”

“Stolen, I presume?”

“Borrowed, Philip.”

He chuckles as Dan takes his hand and they head inside.

“I thought we were going to the sea.”

“We are. It’s just outside the gate, behind that tree. Can’t you hear it? Just listen.”

Phil closes his eyes to focus on the sounds of the place. He can hear the strange call of a bird, the movements of the palms brushing up against each other and then the sounds of waves, faint but definitely present. “I can.”

Dan enjoys the way Phil appreciates everything around him. He takes it as a personal compliment that Phil loves the land like he does. The sounds of water grows louder and they soon come upon a steady river, filtering into a blue lagoon opening up to the wide ocean. They can’t see anything but water for miles. The water is the bluest Phil’s ever seen. They quickly strip out of their clothes and settle in the lagoon because the river’s too cold or rather it’s because Dan doesn’t want to be embarrassed by what the cold does to him. Dan takes Phil’s hand and the walk in together. Dan tries to swim away but Phil doesn’t let him go. He pull him closer and it feels strange to be so open like this but Dan assures him that no one ever comes to this spot. Phil starts kissing him, up and down his neck, across his collarbones that have to be sculpted by the gods.

“Phil?”

“Yes?”

“Whatever we do later, naughty and otherwise, stays between us, right?”

“Of course. Worried?”

“Well, I’m just a country boy. City people know things I don’t so I have to weary. ”

“I am too.”

“I thought you were from London or Manchester or one of those cities.”

“I only went to school on London for a few years. I grew up on an extensive farm. London was such a welcome change.”

“Is that where you met him?”

Phil stops caressing his body and looks into his eyes to search for signs of jealousy or anger. There are none but Dan’s an excellent actor when he tries. “Yes. His name was Carter. We met one night in a bathhouse.”

“You’ve been to one of those?”

Phil chuckles and shrugs. “I was curious.”

“Can you tell me what it is like? Were you not scared?”

“I was a little nervous but I went in, paid the entrance toll and followed what I saw everyone else doing. He must have seen me walk in because once I was out of my coat he had come over, only covered in this thin towel and said he was interested. I could tell he was interested,” he laughed at the memory. “We went into– Do you really want to hear about this?”

“I’m not sure,” he answers truthfully. “So, he was the first? Like you are mine? At least that what I think of this.”

“He was. I’ll tell you the simple parts about it. He started me off slowly, like I am doing with you. He didn’t go too fast and I always felt secure around him. I trusted him.” The sea calms as they talked, as if God himself wants to listen in. Everything seems quieter now, at least to Dan.

“Did you love him?”

“I think I still do sometimes.”

“Why do you insist on being so god damn honest all the time?”

“I have no reason tell you lies, Dan. Do you lie to me?”

“I think we should go back to the house. Your Madeleine will miss you.”

“Answer me… or I won’t speak to you ever again.”

“You wouldn’t dare?”

“Wouldn’t I?”

“I always get what I want, Philip.”

“Do not lie to me.”

“I don’t… anymore.”

“Fair enough, who was your first? Was it Cassie?”

“No, someone else. I promised not to tell a soul.” The lies fall from his lips without a second thought.

“Was it good?” Phil asks, his voice having change to that deep lustful tone that Dan has grown to want and need.

“Yes but– ah!” he groans suddenly.

“Does this feel any better?” Phil asks, growling in Dan’s ear and using the water to slowly stroke him. “I want you to be hard when I’m ready.”

“God, what are we going to do?” he questions, breathe breaking as Phil continues.

“Next lesson, Danny. You like to use your mouth, yes?” Phil raises his brow cheekily and releases Dan from his grip. “We’ll put it to good use.”

“Show me.”

  


Within moments, they’ve gathered their things from the shoreline and returned to the cottage. When they arrive, Dan sits down on the little cot he brought here when he was fourteen and needed an escape for a few days. It was Cassie who came to him and warned him of his father’s anger that he refused to go abroad with him. When Dan said he didn’t want to go, he meant it. His father went on his voyage to Europe without him, not wanting to miss the boat. Looking back on it, he wondered if he would have met Phil when they stopped in London. Knowing the city was larger than life, Dan quickly dismissed the premise. Phil was with him here and now, stood before him, palming himself. This was as good.

“I’m going to talk you through this. Tell me if you don’t want to go any further. I will not push you.”

“Okay,” he says shifting on the little bed as Phil sat down and joined him.

“This will be easier if you got on your knees, right here.”

Dan looks at him confusedly but does it anyway. Phil would do it first and let Dan experience it but he knows what often happens that very first time. He might climax and tire himself out before Phil had a chance to teach him what to do.

Phil waits for him to settle in between his legs then holds Dan’s face in his hand, cupping his chin and speaks softly and slowly. It wasn’t condescending however; it was caring. “You’re going to open your mouth wide for me, my darling,” he said demonstrating with his own mouth and forming an O with his lips. Dan mimicked the action and Phil who was overwhelmed by the sincerity of his want to please him, gave him an open-mouthed kiss, surprising the boy. He pushed his tongue into Dan’s waiting mouth and took control immediately. Dan couldn’t let him have this moment though so he ran his fingers from the inside of Phil’s thigh straight to his hard member. Pulling back, Phil tells him, “Lick me.”

  


Dan bites his lip in hesitation and looks at the man before him. He opens his mouth and pushes his tongue forward, touching the tip to Phil’s head. He licks timidly, like a cat testing the temperature of the water in a bowl. It’s so cute that Phil has to laugh.

“What?” Dan pouts.

“Are you afraid of it?”

“No! See,” he asserts his stance by wrapping his lips around the entirety head, his warm wet tongue tasting the salt from the ocean all over him. Dan doesn’t mind.

“Go deeper, baby.”

Dan sinks his head down a little farther, still a bit shy about this. “You taste good, Phil.”

“Like forbidden fruit?”

“Yes,” he breathes. “Tell me what to do.”

“Anything for you.”

Phil opens his legs a little bit wider to allow Dan better access to him and the boy quickly attaches himself again.

“Go all the way down, take as much as you can without choking then pull back up but don’t let go. Just go back down.”

Dan does what he says and bobs his head painstakingly slow.

“Faster,” Phil moans and Dan reciprocates. “Play with me. Give me your hand.” Dan, taking direction quite well despite his personality, keeps bobbing up and down but lifts his left hand. Phil takes it and manipulates it so that Dan’s fingers caressing his balls. Dan palms him with one and hand and brings the other open to stroke the section of Phil’s shaft he can’t quite reach with his mouth. Phil’s surprised by his initiative and praises him, “Perfect, Dan.”

Dan smiles internally, happy to know he’s doing well. He aims to please this brilliant man, to pleasure him is all he wants right now. Phil puts one of his hands behind him to keep himself from falling backward and lets his head hang back, completely relaxing into Dan’s movements on his cock. Dan’s doing well but Phil wants him to do more. Being someone accustomed to these feelings, Phil needs more to pleasure him. He laces his fingers in Dan’s too long hair and grips it, pulling him. It’s not very rough but it takes the boy by surprise. Phil doesn’t even let him open his mouth to question him before he explains. “Dan…Deeper,” and pulls Dan forward, forcing himself further into the boy’s mouth. “I know you can do this.”

Phil continues to encourage him as Dan chokes around him, sounds of squeaks coming from his throat. Tears fall to his cheeks but Phil only wipes them away and holds Dan in place.

“Swallow for me.” Dan summons his strength and takes a huge gulp. Phil feels his throat tighten around him and calls his name. Dan takes this a sign to keep swallowing. He hollows his cheeks and swallows around Phil, rubbing, almost grinding the roughness of his tongue on the skin of his shaft. Dan’s hot, slick tongue and hard sucking bring Phil to the edge. As his climax fast approaches, Phil pushes Dan’s head away, making him sit back and watch while he pumps his length and comes all over his stomach, shouting Dan’s name.

“You made a mess,” he strains to say.

“I was not sure if you fancied tasting me so I pulled out.”

Dan smirks and sticks out his tongue wide and licks from the base of Phil’s cock to the tip then moving to his stomach, cleaning up willingly.

“Taste weird,” he giggles. “How was I?” He asks even though it’s obvious that Phil’s pleased with his heavy breathing the only sound in the room.

“Good… But I can do better. Your turn. I’m going to need you to lay down. There’s something I want to try. Now listen, it’s very important that you tell me if you are in any way uncomfortable. No lying.”

Dan nods with wide eyes because this sounds too serious to be sex. There’s a warning before every segment. He figures that it’s because Phil really does care that he’s okay. Though the oral sex was a bit rough, Dan was happy to do what he said and get a good response from him.

Dan lays down on the bed and Phil takes his legs and pushes them apart and pulls Dan down towards him, leaving him exposed to him. Phil thinks Dan’s mouth is pretty tired by now so he decided to suck on his own fingers, coating them with his warm saliva. He positions a finger at Dan’s rim and the boy brings his body up quickly, using his elbows for support. “What are you doing?”

“Fingering. It will feel good. I promise,” he tells him then moves up the bed to kiss him so he relaxes. They kiss for a moment and while Dan loses himself in Phil’s lips, tongue and teeth, Phil pushes his finger in. Dan groans a little, a small rough noise leaving his throat and pulls away.

“This feels very strange.”

“I know but just relax for me, Danny.”

Phil returns to the spot on the bed, kneeling before Dan wide opens legs. He sees that Dan is rock hard, his member red and waiting for him so he bends down to kiss the tip now flush against Dan’s stomach. “You’re big one Dan,” he says hoping to make him smile. It was the truth. Phil has seen more than he was proud to admit but Dan certainly was quite large. Phil takes him into his mouth, gently sucking the tip and hearing Dan’s moans instantly. He uses his other hand to stroking him, giving him double pleasure then takes it away to go deeper. Dan lifts his head to look and the sight makes him impossibly harder. Phil feels the boy twitch in his mouth and takes him deeper still, until he hits the back of his throat. Tight and wet around him, Phil knows Dan is completely taken by him and unaware of everything going on around him. Dan has his eyes closed, mouth open, calling on Jesus Christ himself to help him sort this out. He doesn’t care how wrong that is because the man he was in love with had his perfect mouth moving all over his cock. Life was good. Phil pushes a second finger in and Dan cries out but he keeps sucking and fingering. He can hear Dan moaning and gasping above him, still waiting on the amazing feeling Phil’s promised him.

“Please hurry!” he says in pain, wincing but moaning out. Phil has started to bob his head, hollowing his cheeks and sucking harder than before. He struggles to find Dan’s spot. No matter where he twist and how much further he goes, he gets no positive response. Dan can’t take it anymore and reaches down his body to take Phil’s hand away from his hole but Phil makes one last attempt while simultaneously moaning to send vibrations up his length. A warm liquid bursts into his mouth as Dan comes suddenly, without warning and without stilling. He bucks up harshly at the surprise of his orgasm that seems have sneaked up on him. Phil makes the solid effort to keep sucking him however. He takes all that Dan has to offer. When Dan’s hips began to settle back down on the bed, Phil pulls off and kisses him, giving him a little taste of himself.

“Tastes w-weird,” Dan trembled on his lips, orgasm still coursing through him.

“Pretty good to me,” Phil chuckles and grinds down into him, giving him another shock of pleasure through his sensitive body. “ _ _Stop__ ,” Dan whines then laughs. “Don’t stop.”

He pushes his hips down again, not as hard as before because he really does not think he can settle for his hand if he does. Dan’s getting drowsy too. Phil looks outside and sees the place getting darker already. How long have they been here? Someone must be worried about them, he thinks. But Dan obviously had no qualms about sneaking off for any amount of time. “Will someone be looking for us?”

“No… I don’t the– Phil? Do you want to stay here tonight? I really cannot move.”

“We have to get back.”

“ _ _Why__?”

“Tomorrow is Sunday. We can’t miss it.”

“No, mother will have a fit.”

“She’s promised a lovely service though.”

“I can only imagine.” Dan looks up at him with pleading eyes.

“No. We have to go.”

“Make me.”

“You’re such a child, Dan.”

“No I’m not!” he whines and pouts. “I just want to stay here with you all night.”

“What if Cassie comes searching for you. This…” he gestures to both of them. “…will be hard to explain.”

“I’ll tell her a snake bit you and I had to remove the poison. It wouldn’t be completely unreasonable.”

“Snakes?”

“Yes, Phil. little serpents. They slither and all that.”

“I know what they are you insufferable know-it-all,” he laughs. “Come on. Up!”

Dan glares at him but Phil pecks him on the lips and it fades away.

An hour later, they approach the big white house Dan calls home. He drops Phil’s hand and fixes out his horribly curly hair. Walking inside, they’re met with Dan’s parents sitting in the drawing room, reading and sipping tea.

“Where did you run off too this time?”

“To the beach, Mother.”

“Did Daniel show you a lovely time, Philip?” Eva asks looking up from her latest novel.

“I should say so. It didn’t exactly cool me down any but it was wonderful all the same.”

“That’s good.”

“Good night, mother” Dan yawns behind his mouth, forgetting his manners for just a moment.

“Yes, yes. Good night, dear. You too, Philip.”

“Good night, Father.”

“Tell me, Daniel. Is the beach the only place you went today? You seem different.”

“Yes. Cassie woke me up late as per request and we’ve been out all day, just swimming.” He knows if he mentions the girl, his father will quickly dismiss any other notions. It’s disturbing how proud he is of his son.

“Ah. You’ve had a good day then?”

“Yes. Yes, I have.”

John dismisses them with a wave of his hand and takes a sip of his tea. He watches Dan walk up the staircase with Phil trailing behind him, smile wide and excitement clear on his face. John takes another sip. “He’s lying, Eva.”

“How do you know? They look like they’ve been out in the sun all day. He wouldn’t do anything too bad with Phil around, would he?”

“I just received correspondence from an associate in London, an old friend I trust. It seems that Philip has been keeping a few secrets not only from us but his own family.”

“What kind of secrets, John?”

“I cannot tell you until I’m certain but I want them followed. I must know everything they get up to. I will not have him corrupting my son.”

  


Meanwhile upstairs, Dan tells Phil that since he’s so tired, he’ll be going straight to bed. But as Phil slips between the sheets of his bed, Dan’s whispering sweet nothings in Cassie’s ear because she worries when he’s out of her sight. Earlier that day, just before sunset, John pulled her aside and told her to watch his every movement, tell him everything she sees. He’s no fool though. He knows she would never willingly get Dan in trouble. Love is blinding her anyway. It is how she will behave that will reveal all. All he has to do now is wait.

  


————-

  


****__Remember thou keep the Sabbath Day holy._ _ ** **

  


“Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come–”

Phil stifles as giggle. Dan nudges him but keeps his head bowed. “…And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil…”

Sunday morning service has just begun in the large Anglican Church in the centre of town. It is seven in the morning and Dan’s feeling light, like he’s floating. He has everything in abundance: money, food, love, sex and comfort. If he died at the very moment, he’d be ready. He seemed to be in a permanent state of bliss. Out of respect to his family and the sanctity of this day of the week, Dan decides that they should stay home today, telling Phil as much before sitting down in their pew.

“We won’t be able to be alone today.”

“How unfortunate,” he murmurs taking his seat between Dan and Madeleine.

The congregation leader takes his place at the podium at the front of the church and starts his sermon. A few songs are sung in beautiful chorus and Phil’s tries his best to keep up but Dan has other ideas, getting aroused during a daydream he has during the sermon. He leans over, pretending to help Phil find the correct page for the hymn and whispers, “You have to go farther… deeper than you have before. Today will be the day. Follow me when the time comes.” Phil nods and turns the page. Madeleine who smiles warmly at him looks over at the book and turns the page to proper page and glares at Dan. He raised his brow questioningly and she shakes her head then leans in closer to Phil to look over the words though she knows them by heart. They have been attending this church for their entire lives. When the hymn ends, the leader starts his welcome to any and all new visitors.

“We have a visitor from England with us today. Philip Lester, who is betrothed to Madeleine Howell. Would you please stand, Mr Lester?”

Phil looks around, finding Dan looking out the open window and Madeleine smiling brightly. John dons a polite smile, lips pursed when Phil stands.

  


“Thank you. You’re all very hospitable and it’s been a wonderful service so far.”

“We’re happy you are enjoying your stay.” Phil nods politely and sits down next to reason he’s enjoying his stay so much, the boy with the pert pink lips in a pout, the same lips that were wrapped around him in the most intimate of places.

  


The leader moves on to other visitors then it time for the congregation take the bread and wine. When it’s their turn to walk down the aisle towards the front, Dan goes out the opposite side, making it appear that he needs to relieve himself. Phil sees him leave and grabs Madeleine’s hand and telling her, “I need to use the lavatory.”

“Oh! Do you need me to show you where to go?”

“No, your brother will direct me. I’ll be right back, my dear.”

“Alright.”

  


He leaves the church and looks around trying to find Dan. He feels someone grab his elbow and pull him backward. It’s Dan and he’s pulling him into a smaller building attach to the much larger church.

  


Dan closes the door behind them and the plantation shutters as it would be far too stupid to leave them open no matter how hot it is.

“What comes next? I need to know,” he breathes attaching his lips to Phil and pawing at his the vest in his three piece suit, opening the buttons.

“Eager, are you?”

“Excellent observation, Phil. Now, touch me.”

“Daniel, I need you to slow down. Think about this. Anyone could hear us. When we finished, how will we hide what we’ve done? As much as I love the thought of bedding you right here, we can’t.”

“What if we leave?”

“I can’t walk in this state and it would be rude to leave mid-service. What will your parents think?”

“That I am corrupting you. Which I am,” he whispers and pushed his hips forward, grinding into Phil. He’s not completely hard yet; he seems to have better control than his lover who’s aching for it already.

“It is too dark in here. I need to see you,” Phil sighs, getting frustrated at the circumstance that they have found themselves him. Dan feels around on the desk next to him and feels something cold, solid and curvy. Figuring it must be a lamp of some sort he picks it up and turns the little knob he finds at the body. The little room, which appears to be some sort of office, lights up dimly. The yellow light cascading all around them. Phil smiles when Dan comes into view, happy to see every feature on his face and kisses him. He snakes his arms around his waist and Dan grips him as well, pushing their bodies as close as possible. He moans a little because he’s been waiting to be touched since the lord’s prayer and service is already an hour over.

Phil looks around, spots a bench opposite the desk and gets an idea.

“Dan, get undressed from the waist down. We haven’t much time.” Dan immediately starts ripping off his trousers, not even bothering to take his shows off first. Phil does the same then shuffles over in front of the bench. “Come here,” he says in whisper. “And bend over. Yes, just like that.”

  


****__Thou shalt not commit adultery._ _ ** **

  


Dan has his forearms resting on the seat, his head down, back straight and bottom sticking up just for Phil. In all the time that Dan’s thinking about sex, he never saw himself as the submissive. Moreover, Dan never saw himself with a man, especially one a perfect as this one. He feels that he’s been made for him, just for him. Phil glides his finger down Dan’s clothed spine and lands on the nape of his back. He kneels down behind him and kisses the skin there, going farther down as his kisses continue. Phil sucks on his fingers to lather them up then positions them right at Dan’s waiting hole.

“I’m okay,” he assures him so he pushes the first two in a once. He’s just as tight as he was the day before so Phil has to take his time, there is no way he will harm him anyway. Dan lays his head down as the pain builds in his backside. He wiggles a little, out of instinct to get away from the intruder so Phil uses his other hand to hold him steady. Scissoring his fingers after a few moments and assuming Dan can take more, Phi slides a third finger in, receiving a wince from Dan.

“Breathe. In and out.”

Dan nods his head and takes the advice but he keeps making noises of discomfort and wriggles away from Phil’s touch. Phil asks him, “Are you sure you wish to continue? We don’t have to.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Keep going. Can you touch me in that spot again? The one that made me scream yesterday?”

“I will.” Phil slides his fingers in again, inch by inch and when he remembers where the spot is, he put his hand over Dan’s mouth and presses in him. Dan screams out but he’s muffled. Thank god. Phil counts to six as he swipes his fingers over Dan’s prostate, giving him white hot pleasure, sending shocks of pleasure through his body. He pauses for a bit, so that Dan doesn’t climax before they are ready. He knows he cannot have sex with him once he’s peaked. He’ll be too sensitive. After repeating the cycle a few times and enjoying the way Dan arches his back into his fingers, Phil pulls his fingers out and uncovers Dan’s mouth. He looks up at Phil as he runs his fingers through Dan’s hair. Sweat covers his face and he’s flushed red, eye half lidded, breath heavy.

“You are doing so well,” Phil whispers and pecks his cheek. “Now comes for the fun part.” Dan smiles and lifts his body up. “No. Stay down.”

Phil spits in his palm and lather’s himself up. He gets into position and puts his hand over Dan’s mouth again. He pushes in past the first ring of muscle then the second, inching into Dan slowly. The heat of his cock sears the inner walls of Dan’s body and he screams into the elder’s hand. “Shhh. I know. I know,” Phil soothes him, still filling him with his long, thick member. Dan starts screaming phrases into Phil’s hand but Phil can’t understand him. Once he’s all the way in, he doesn’t move and waits for Dan to adjust. The boy is still screaming something, intermittent moans coming through.

“You have to be quiet, okay?”

He nods feverishly and suppresses his noises. Phil removes his hand so Dan can speak.

“You lied to me!” he gasps, the burning still present. “It hurts so much!”

“I know but it will get better. It will,” he assures him and rubs his back, knowing there are tears streaming down Dan’s face. The pain slowly starts to subside and Dan’s sniffles dissipate after just two minutes. Phil knows he’s angry because he think he’s betrayed him, using his body selfishly but that is so far from the truth. He knows he’s teaching Dan about who he truly is, taking the most pleasurable route of experimentation.

Dan’s frozen. He won’t move for fear of having Phil hurt him even more. “Dan?” Phil says.

“Yes?” he replies timidly.

“I want you to know I am not lying to you. The first time always hurts a bit. I couldn’t hurt you purposely. I love you too much.”

Dan raises his head in surprise as Phil’s words. “You do?”

“I do.”

“I love you too.” The pain is gone now and he reaches back for Phil, twisting his body so they are facing each other. Phil moves forward, moving just a little deeper inside Dan to kiss him. Their lips connect and tongues dance together, eliciting moans from them both. “We had better make haste, my love.”

 

Dan lays his head back down and pushed back with his body making Phil ready himself to move. He pulls out to his tip and the feeling of his warmth moving in Dan’s body makes him moan. Phil holds Dan hips steady and starts thrusting, bucking into him. Dan scrunches his eyes shut and makes little squeaking noises each time Phil’s skin hits his. Phil gains speeds in his movements and the bench shakes beneath them. Dan starts gritting his teeth and lets out a moan of, “ _ _Good– god!__ ”

“Shhh.” Phil reaches out in front of him, puts both of his hands over Dan’s mouth to conceal his sounds. As much as he’d love to hear them, they can’t risk it. They’re having premarital male-male sex in a church so they could at least be quiet about it. Dan’s body rocks forward with every one of Phil’s thrusts. Phil’s cock disappears into Dan’s body at greater speed, sliding into his tight warm body. Phil asks him breathlessly, “Can I spill inside you?”

 

Dan nods in response and turns to watch Phil’s rolls into his body, his eyes widening, begging for the pleasure to go on forever. Phil sees the look of desperation on Dan’s face so reaches around and grabs Dan’s cock. He feels the precum leaking in his fingers and he swipes his thumb across knowing how amazing it feels. He wants to hit that spot again before he finishes so he stops his thrusts, straightens his back and jerks into Dan forcefully and with accuracy as Dan gives him a high-pitched, muffled scream. Phil’s coming undone, as is Dan. Dan writhes, arches his back and lifts his head as Phil runs his thumb through his slit, pounds directly in his prostate and has his hands over his mouth. Dan’s hand try to grip the cold wood of the bench as he climaxes, pushed over the edge by Phil for the millionth time it seems. The warm white liquid spills onto the floor beneath them. The walls of Dan’s body, contracting in response, tightening around him, bring Phil to orgasm almost instantaneously. He comes deep inside Dan’s body and gradually stops moving his hips, pleasure washing over him. Dan puts his head down and Phil collapses on his body without pulling out. His hands leave Dan’s face, allowing him to breath normally again and speak.

  
“Dan? Phil? Where did you disappear to?” they hear from outside. In panic, Phil pulls out without warning, making Dan gasp loudly.

“I’m sorry.”

“S’okay,” he calms him. Phil stands to his feet and pulls up his trousers. Dan tries to stand up but it’s a very difficult when he can’t find the strength to push himself up and there’s this pain in his backside. Phil helps him to his feet, pulls up his pants too, mothering him after their first time.

“How was it?”

“Brilliant,” Dan smiles. “You look all sweaty.”

“You look even worse. Like you’ve been crying. Did I break you?”

“No, I don’t think so. God that felt so good.”

“I love you, you know.”

“I know.”

Phil holds Dan up by his waist and hold him close to him.

“Help me walk please.”

 

—————–

Once their hearts had settled down and they were certain the coast was clear, they exited the office, leaving a strange substance on the floor right in front of the bench. They forego returning to their seats because service is almost over, they’ve missed about an hour of it and Dan in particular could not care any less. He does, however, formulate an excuse to explain their whereabouts. Phil’s normally pale white skin is still red, unable to return to its normal state because the hot sun is beating down on his already overheated face. He suggest that they sit by the water pump so that when everyone comes out, they will think he’s feeling ill and needed the fresh air and water. Everyone believes the excuse that Phil was feeling ill. All of Dan’s sisters fret over him and when Dan raises to calm them down, he winces and grabs his lower back.

“Are you okay, Daniel?” John asks, genuinely worried.

“I think I must have slept in an odd position.”

“The carriage is ready. Take my hand and we’ll go,” Phil offered.

“Thank you, Phil.”

———————-

 

“How do you sleep at night, Daniel?”

“I don’t know, doctor.”

“Do you sleep on your side, your stomach or your back?”

“All three I suppose.”

  


As soon as they returned to the plantation, Eva had called for the doctor and had Dan go straight to bed. Phil however, had to suffer through afternoon tea with his soon to be wife and her young sisters. The children were amusing but Madeleine was clingy and all he wanted was a bath, a clean set of clothes and Dan wrapped in his arms and his breath tickling his neck as they slept. Was that too much to ask? Meanwhile, Dan who was a master manipulator told the doctor, “I think I just need to remain in bed for a few days. I’ve been feeling ill these past few days.”

 

“Yes, he has been acting quite strange lately. So has Philip. He probably brought something over on the boat. Nothing but rodents and fleas everywhere. Even in the first class cabin.”

 

“Hmm… Yes, the last journey I went on was an absolute nightmare. The accommodations were vile.”

“You think they could make suitable arrangements of gentle people…”

  
Dan groans internally as they chit chat but at least they’re focused on something else. The doctor continues to talk, somehow managing to switch to the topic of Grecian art, whilst packing his medical bag.

“Oh! I’ve almost forgotten my patient. Rest and lots of fluids should do it, my boy.”

“I’ll send Cassie up soon. Alright, Dan?”

“That’s fine mother. I think I’ll will take a rest. Have no one disturb me please and thank you.”

She kisses him on the forehead and smiles kindly at her only son. “Still my little angel, aren’t you?”

“Yes, mother.”

 

He is such a liar.

 

Cassie comes into the room with a glass of water on a silver tray and places it on the night stand. Dan lifts the sheet off his face and frightens the poor girl.

“Yuh nuh sick!” __[You aren’t sick!]__

“I know that, you silly girl.”

“I have to go now.”

“Why? Stay with me. I told my mother not to bother me. She thinks I’m asleep.”

Cassie turns to leave but Dan grabs her hand and pulls her into bed with him. She giggles and fights to get away but he holds a strong grip on her. Her body falls to the space between him and he pins her down and tickles her. “ _ _Stop__!” she laughs. “I’ll get trouble. Dan, I need to go!”

“Oh fine then.” he lets her go and she sits up on the bed still laughing.

“Kiss me?”

He nods and leans up slightly to peck her on the lips. She doesn’t think it’s enough however so she holds him there, parts his lips with her tongue and delves in. Dan loves kissing. He always had and he’s pretty good at it, if he had to be completely honest so he fights for dominance. His tongues glides over her teeth and her tongue, the two muscles pushing back and forth. He’s so into the kiss that he doesn’t hear his door open. Cassie breaks the kiss and looks over her shoulders and jumps off the bed. It’s Phil.

“Can I speak to Dan alone please?”

She doesn’t speak to him; she’s not allowed to so she nods instead and leaves them. But she stands outside the door and listens in.

  
“I came to check up on you.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yes it is.”

“Thank you… for coming.”

  


Phil does not meet his eyes. He looks past him, at the piece of red fabric on the pillow, the one Cassie left behind. It must have fallen off her head when she wriggling under Dan’s fingers. The tension in the air was tangible, thick and strangling.

 

“You know, your sister thinks I’ve been spending too much time with you. I think she’s right.”

“Oh what does she know?”

“She knows you.”

“It’s only for appearances. No one can know about this. It is easier to do that than having my father or anyone else figuring this out.”

Jane and Mary call for Cassie to come down stairs and serve them so she has to leave Dan’s door. She’s intrigued but she has to attend to her young mistresses.

 

Phil approaches the bed. “Do you love me? “

“Yes, I do. I swear to god, I do.”

“We just had sex in a church. I do not think swearing to God is the most accurate measure of your loyalty.”

Dan chuckles and replies, “I do love you though. I’m dreading the day you leave here.”

“Let’s not think about that now. I’d like to go back to Eden soon, if you can handle the trek.”

“When this blasted pain goes away, I can go. It’s your fault really.”

“It is not my fault you are a virgin.”

“I am no virgin.”

“Not anymore,” he laughs.

  


——————–

  


Days pass slowly. Dan and Phil become more intimate as time goes. They’re falling deeper and deeper in love, completely enamoured with each other and it’s starting to show on the surface. Dan’s face lights up when Phil talks. He’ll ask him inane questions just for the sake of hearing his voice. At night, he’ll stay in Phil’s room, in his arms until the sun rises and he has to leave. Dan however still maintains his relationship with Cassie. He told Phil he wasn’t sleeping with her anymore but of course he lied. It comes naturally to him.

  


A month passes and the wedding is fast approaching causing Dan to steal Phil away every chance he gets. Once they marry, he and Madeleine will return to Europe where he has a home. They’ll honeymoon in Italy and France before going home. Dan knows he won’t see him again for a very long time.

 

So the day before the ceremony, Dan takes Phil back to Eden. He’s careful to sneak him out before the day even starts. They arrive at sunrise. The sun peeks over the water and steadily rises, lighting up the easternmost parish, where the day always begins its journey. Because early morning is chilly, Phil wraps his arms around Dan as he sits between Phil’s legs in the sand. He kisses his lover’s neck and whispers wonderful things in his ear. Dan proposed that they go back inside and make love one last time. It’s the kind of sex that has him moaning out for Phil to ‘ _ _keep going__ ’ and __‘don’t leave me here. Please don’t leave me here.__ ’ Phil doesn’t have the heart to promise him something he know he can’t deliver. Sounds of grunting, gasping, moaning and whimpering fills the air. It’s when they’ve come down from the amazing high, they see smoking lingering in the room. The haze is not just in their eyes but all around them. The temperature of the room is higher than ever. Could it be because they’ve been fucking for almost an hour straight? No, the house is on fire. They are encased in the flames. There is no way out. As much as he tries, Dan can’t catch his breath. Phil breaks a window but it offers no oxygen. The fire grows rapidly consuming the structure. Dan thinks this is what hell must be like. They’re trapped and give up. He screams for Phil to hold him and he does.

Dan takes a hold of Phil’s face and tells him,” I love you and that is no lie.”

 

“I love you too.” They kiss once more and hold each other tight as it becomes harder to breathe. They would scream out but no one is around to hear them. The roof, eaten by the flames, crashes down onto the two lovers, crushing them. They die in each other’s arms and just before he is body is crush under the weight of the fallen wood, Dan remembers Adam, the boy strung up to a fruit tree and slaughtered. He remembers the old woman’s words.

“First-born? My first-born…” he whispers. “Cassie!” he calls. He knows she’s there.

  


The girl stands perched on a hilltop watching the blaze, red and angry like hellfire. When the roof caves in, she leaves. A storm rolls in, the sky greys, leaking big droplets of water, wetting her skin and cooling down the atmosphere. She feels like a god, newly baptised in the rain shower.

—————–

  
Cassie returns to the mansion an hour later. When asked about her whereabouts she tells John, “The blue lagoon.”

“What were you doing down there?”

“Watching them.”

“What did you see?”

“Mi nuh have no word fi describe it.” [I don’t have any word to describe it.]

  
John tells her to get to work and sets off for the blue lagoon with his rifle and a rope. The smoke cloud flies high above him as he approaches the burning house. He spots their shoes on the shoreline and looks out into the sea. He knows they have to be dead if they’re in the house. He calls for them, riding on horseback hoping to find his shoeless son safe and sound. He gets no response.

 

His son is dead.

 

Upon returning to the house he announces the tragedy. “Daniel and Philip have died in a fire, right by the lagoon.”

“God, no!” Eva cries and the girls burst into tears. Cassie stands off to the side and she doesn’t even move.

“Did you see the fire, girl?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“Him did fi dead.” __[He should have died]__

“How could you say such a thing about my brother?” Madeleine screeches at her.

“How did it start? Tell me!” John demands. She shrugs listlessly and he smacks her across the face. She falls to the floor and curled into herself to avoid any coming blows. “She set the fire,” he gasps, seeing a burn mark on her forearm. He decides to handle this himself, picks her up and strikes her again, blood now pouring from her nose.

John gathers rope and pulls her out into the front of the house, to that legendary almond tree.

“What possessed you to kill my son?”

“He broke my heart.”

“That gave you no right!”

“A child, his child, sits inside me and I want to die! Kill me now!”

“No.”

  


John has her locked up in a room, at the top of the house for the entirety of the pregnancy. She had no curtains, no bed sheets nor any other tool to harm herself. She is force fed three times daily. She goes mad from the solitude and screams Dan’s name every night for hours, only pausing when she sleeps, collapsed and fallen over from exhaustion. The child comes in the middle of night and her cries can be heard as far as the slave quarters, miles away from the main house. The baby boy is a pale and white and Eva remarks as how similar Dan looked on his very first day on earth. John names the child Daniel Howell III, as his own son was named after his paternal grandfather.

  


Cassie never sees her child. She fell into a state after the birth and when she woke, John brought her out to the tree. Hair long and tattered, skin pasty and pale from the lack of sunlight, and blood on her dress, Cassie stands before a crowd on a log just below a high overhanging branch. A noose is tied around her neck but she does not protest. The log is kicked out from under her, her neck snaps. Her eyes remain open and John gently closes them. She’s buried in an unmarked grave, though never forgotten.

  


—————–

  


Emancipation comes three years later. John and Eva find that they cannot survive without the free labour of the slaves and return to England. Daniel grows into a strong young man. He believes his parents were killed in a fire. Eva told him as much. He knows nothing of his background. He believes he’s English. That’s only half true. His looks wouldn’t suggest otherwise. He even shares the same streak of mystery and mischievousness as his father. One day, a boy of about sixteen with blue eyes and black hair winks at him. He smiles, raises his brow and nods politely. He becomes smitten with the boy, spending incredible amounts of his grandparents’ money on him.

They are caught in the back room of a pub. The Howell name is disgraced and Daniel is hanged in a square in central London with about two hundred onlookers just like his mother.

  


In the Garden of Eden, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr  
> [danni-howell](https://danni-howell.tumblr.com/)


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